Pennsic Post
Aug. 24th, 2005 04:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mikeknLet's start off by saying I wasn't looking forward to Pennsic this year. It just didn't have the draw for me that it had in previous years. So, I set up enough commitments to get me there and keep me there. I figured I'd probably enjoy myself once I got there, and for the most part I did.
This is long, but not very in depth. It took me this long just to get what's here - but I figure I wanted to post it sooner rather then later. Feel free to ask questions.
Archery I'm in the midst of the slow process of becoming an archery marshal, so I spent some time up on the range helping out. I did a two hour shift inspecting bows (got to fail the second bow I saw) and a two hour shift running the advancing man range with my friend Seamus. I never got around to actually shooting while I was there. I have no real clue what the specific process is for becoming a marshal - need to see if there is anything actually in the rule books about it.
Games Tent Not surprisingly, I spent most of my time at the Games Tent. All of our teachers showed up and the classes were very well attended. We added two extra classes once we were on site - both advanced Go classes. Hopefully we'll be able to get them in the schedule next time.
Galen ran two tournaments this year, both more successful then any we've had in the past (mostly because we got them onto the published schedule this year). We were pretty lax about opening the tent on time (9 AM), but we were usually there before the 10 AM class.
We need to try and get some more space for next year (bigger tent if possible, more tables and chairs). One year we had an extra 20x20 pavilion set up next to us, but it wasn't used for anything (was supposed to be for parking I think, but they changed how they were running it that year) so we took it over for our classes. It worked great, but the tent went away the following years. I need to contact next year's mayor soon to see if an increase is possible.
Classes I only made it to two classes this year (not counting game classes). Stump the Seneschal with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
faheud and ghita. It was less "stumping" and more upcoming ideas and changes, plus stories and discussions. Good stuff - I look forward to see how it all works out.
The other class was Very Basic Card Weaving, but I got there too late to get the kit (or a good seat) so I didn't stay long.
Shopping I only visited about half the merchants, but I didn't have much I was looking for, so no big loss. Picked up a Pennsic t-shirt, the new Stone Soup Band CD, Folo's new Pennsic History book and some SCA history related posters. I also got three new shirts, but nothing fancy - still need to find the right garb for my persona (violet_amy has started doing some research, which is cool because I wouldn't know where to begin)
Visits & Nightlife None! Ok, not really true. I just didn't get out much - never made it over the hill down to the lake. Failed to visit Starry Knights, Flaming Gryphon, the Regnesfolke, and everyone in the B blocks... I tended to collapse as soon as I got back to camp each night.
Happily for me, several people stopped in to see me at the Games Tent.dame_margarete brought Duchess Garlanda around to say hi. shadowpony visited a few times so I got to hear what she's been up to. sansobel help out at the tent a few times, as did marietta_sca. I finally got to meet cellio (sorry for the confusion at first) and we had a nice chat with jducoeur. sskipstress stopped by for an all too brief visit (not her fault - I was tied up in a game). Got to see paquerette, laid (thanks for the game board!) and their daughter beatrice_ruth (cute!). Saw fionawolf a few time early in the war, which is alway cool. I'm probably forgetting a bunch of other folks (sorry!)
Runnymede Dinner I helped to serve withsansobel and a bunch of others. Looked like it went extremely well. The food was excellent and the folks there seemed to be enjoying themselves. My only complaint was that some of the home brew I intended for the Allies Party got given out with the gift baskets - not a big deal, but none of it was labeled for presentation. The stuff I did donate to the baskets looked much better (and did get given out).
SCA History Night Very cool. The Middle Kingdom Historian and her deputy brought a bunch of stuff out to display. Much of it was old newsletters and such; similar to what we have in the EK collection. They've also started a Reliquary for various artifacts (old helms, weapons, scrolls). There was some discussion about the accuracy of the info they had for some of their items, but only the claims of "earliest" and stuff like that. It would be interesting to try and put together something like that for the East.
I brought out the waiver from AS 1 as well as a bunch of actual event fliers from the first two years. Frederick of Holland found his name on the waver, which was pretty cool. Someone commented: "I bet the Society would love to have this...don't give it to them." :)
East Kingdom Court Was the same night as the SCA History Night, and because of when it was supposed to start (6:30) I told a few people that I wouldn't be able to make it this year - this brought out more expressions of surprise then me missing a court should have, so I got suspicious. I knew something was going on, but not exactly what (I wasn't going to try and find out either). After that, anyone who asked was told I'd head up to court after the History Night was over. Court didn't actually start until a little after 7, so I only missed an hour or so before I got there.
Shortly after arriving, suspicions were confirmed and I got called into court to be inducted into the Order of the Maunche. I received a beautiful scroll done by my friend Marti and a very nice medallion from my friend Alison. For those outside the SCA or the East kingdom, the Maunche is the East's High Order of Merit for "service to the arts and sciences".
I actually had to go read EK Law to see what the wording was, because I do (did) not believe my work to up to Maunche "level". I could probably talk myself into believing my service to the arts is there, but my actual "arts"? No. Reading further into the law makes it a fairly blurry line, so I continue to have mixed feelings about it. I may have more thoughts on this later when I'm feeling more coherent.
EK Allies Party We got off to a slightly rough start as we tried to get everything set up in the short amount of time we had available, but it settled down in good order and we were in good shape by the time we had a good number of guests. The food and drinks were excellent and in good supply - unfortunately the guests were not. We barely made a dent into what had been prepared for the party, and ended up giving away a lot of food and taking home a lot of booze.
About an hour or so before the scheduled end, their Majesties headed out to visit some other parties. This had several of the folks who volunteered to help out wondering what was going on. Basically, why were the King and Queen leaving their own party, a party they were supposed to be hosting for the kingdom and it's allies? I still don't have a good answer for them.
Brewing I brought some home brews along, including a keg of hard cider, but apart from the stuff used at Runnymede and the EK Allies Party, I don't think I opened any of it. The opportunities never really came up (a side effect of not visiting nor hanging out in camp much).
Overall, not a bad Pennsic, but not a great one either.
This is long, but not very in depth. It took me this long just to get what's here - but I figure I wanted to post it sooner rather then later. Feel free to ask questions.
Archery I'm in the midst of the slow process of becoming an archery marshal, so I spent some time up on the range helping out. I did a two hour shift inspecting bows (got to fail the second bow I saw) and a two hour shift running the advancing man range with my friend Seamus. I never got around to actually shooting while I was there. I have no real clue what the specific process is for becoming a marshal - need to see if there is anything actually in the rule books about it.
Games Tent Not surprisingly, I spent most of my time at the Games Tent. All of our teachers showed up and the classes were very well attended. We added two extra classes once we were on site - both advanced Go classes. Hopefully we'll be able to get them in the schedule next time.
Galen ran two tournaments this year, both more successful then any we've had in the past (mostly because we got them onto the published schedule this year). We were pretty lax about opening the tent on time (9 AM), but we were usually there before the 10 AM class.
We need to try and get some more space for next year (bigger tent if possible, more tables and chairs). One year we had an extra 20x20 pavilion set up next to us, but it wasn't used for anything (was supposed to be for parking I think, but they changed how they were running it that year) so we took it over for our classes. It worked great, but the tent went away the following years. I need to contact next year's mayor soon to see if an increase is possible.
Classes I only made it to two classes this year (not counting game classes). Stump the Seneschal with
faheud and ghita. It was less "stumping" and more upcoming ideas and changes, plus stories and discussions. Good stuff - I look forward to see how it all works out. The other class was Very Basic Card Weaving, but I got there too late to get the kit (or a good seat) so I didn't stay long.
Shopping I only visited about half the merchants, but I didn't have much I was looking for, so no big loss. Picked up a Pennsic t-shirt, the new Stone Soup Band CD, Folo's new Pennsic History book and some SCA history related posters. I also got three new shirts, but nothing fancy - still need to find the right garb for my persona (
violet_amy has started doing some research, which is cool because I wouldn't know where to begin)Visits & Nightlife None! Ok, not really true. I just didn't get out much - never made it over the hill down to the lake. Failed to visit Starry Knights, Flaming Gryphon, the Regnesfolke, and everyone in the B blocks... I tended to collapse as soon as I got back to camp each night.
Happily for me, several people stopped in to see me at the Games Tent.
dame_margarete brought Duchess Garlanda around to say hi. shadowpony visited a few times so I got to hear what she's been up to. sansobel help out at the tent a few times, as did marietta_sca. I finally got to meet cellio (sorry for the confusion at first) and we had a nice chat with jducoeur. sskipstress stopped by for an all too brief visit (not her fault - I was tied up in a game). Got to see paquerette, laid (thanks for the game board!) and their daughter beatrice_ruth (cute!). Saw fionawolf a few time early in the war, which is alway cool. I'm probably forgetting a bunch of other folks (sorry!)Runnymede Dinner I helped to serve with
sansobel and a bunch of others. Looked like it went extremely well. The food was excellent and the folks there seemed to be enjoying themselves. My only complaint was that some of the home brew I intended for the Allies Party got given out with the gift baskets - not a big deal, but none of it was labeled for presentation. The stuff I did donate to the baskets looked much better (and did get given out).SCA History Night Very cool. The Middle Kingdom Historian and her deputy brought a bunch of stuff out to display. Much of it was old newsletters and such; similar to what we have in the EK collection. They've also started a Reliquary for various artifacts (old helms, weapons, scrolls). There was some discussion about the accuracy of the info they had for some of their items, but only the claims of "earliest" and stuff like that. It would be interesting to try and put together something like that for the East.
I brought out the waiver from AS 1 as well as a bunch of actual event fliers from the first two years. Frederick of Holland found his name on the waver, which was pretty cool. Someone commented: "I bet the Society would love to have this...don't give it to them." :)
East Kingdom Court Was the same night as the SCA History Night, and because of when it was supposed to start (6:30) I told a few people that I wouldn't be able to make it this year - this brought out more expressions of surprise then me missing a court should have, so I got suspicious. I knew something was going on, but not exactly what (I wasn't going to try and find out either). After that, anyone who asked was told I'd head up to court after the History Night was over. Court didn't actually start until a little after 7, so I only missed an hour or so before I got there.
Shortly after arriving, suspicions were confirmed and I got called into court to be inducted into the Order of the Maunche. I received a beautiful scroll done by my friend Marti and a very nice medallion from my friend Alison. For those outside the SCA or the East kingdom, the Maunche is the East's High Order of Merit for "service to the arts and sciences".
I actually had to go read EK Law to see what the wording was, because I do (did) not believe my work to up to Maunche "level". I could probably talk myself into believing my service to the arts is there, but my actual "arts"? No. Reading further into the law makes it a fairly blurry line, so I continue to have mixed feelings about it. I may have more thoughts on this later when I'm feeling more coherent.
EK Allies Party We got off to a slightly rough start as we tried to get everything set up in the short amount of time we had available, but it settled down in good order and we were in good shape by the time we had a good number of guests. The food and drinks were excellent and in good supply - unfortunately the guests were not. We barely made a dent into what had been prepared for the party, and ended up giving away a lot of food and taking home a lot of booze.
About an hour or so before the scheduled end, their Majesties headed out to visit some other parties. This had several of the folks who volunteered to help out wondering what was going on. Basically, why were the King and Queen leaving their own party, a party they were supposed to be hosting for the kingdom and it's allies? I still don't have a good answer for them.
Brewing I brought some home brews along, including a keg of hard cider, but apart from the stuff used at Runnymede and the EK Allies Party, I don't think I opened any of it. The opportunities never really came up (a side effect of not visiting nor hanging out in camp much).
Overall, not a bad Pennsic, but not a great one either.
